Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Update - August 22nd, 2007 - A Melancholy Street

We begin where we left off last night at the doctor's office. The doctor, who looks a bit like French President Nicolas Sarkozy, refers to the melanoma they removed last week.

"Melanoma!" she cries, "it was a mole last week!"

He tells her that there was a biopsy, which indicated a malignant melanoma. There will be treatment, but they will need to determine how far the cancer has spread.

Cilla looks like she was punched in the stomach.

“Cancer!” she whispers.

On the sidewalk in front of Les', Fiz tells him that she's sent Chesney back to school as he just should carry one as normal. Yana notes that Cilla letting him down again is carrying on as normal.

Back at the hospital, the doctor tells Cilla that skin cancer can be very aggressive so they will get her in as soon as possible. She wants to know what “the maths” are: 90%? 55? 2%.He tells her that it was the melanoma was deep, but not very deep, but her chances for for survival over 5 years would be 30% to 50%.

"I never do anything by halves, me," she says.

As Cilla comes home and stops to check her make up. Les and Yana come out to confront her. Yana makes a reference to about her lipstick just sliding off her face, and instructs Les not to believe anything she says. Yana tells her she's resigned.

"From the chippy?" asks Cilla.

"No," says Les, "from being your flaming alibi!"

Yana, not angry that Cilla is having an affair but that she didn't tell her, walks off. Les goes back inside, slamming the door.

Inside the house, Cilla picks a half-empty bottle of hooch.

"Been having a party?" she asks.

Les tells that everything was all right before she came back and it will be all right again once she

slings her hook. He tells her he heard her telling Yana to lie for her, he was standing beside her.Cilla sees Yana's top on the chair and wonders if they were up to a little fun themselves. Les says he never cheated, well, except that one time with Janice.

Les says that he and Chesney will be better off without her.

"You might just have to be," she says.

"You mean nothing to me and you never did!" he shouts. Cilla runs upstairs.

Cilla turns up at Fizz's flat, but Fizz gives her hell for the affair, calling her an evil cow.

"And what? You'd be better off without me?" Cilla asks.

Fizz says that she always has been.

"Just remember you said that," says Cilla and picks up her bag and walks out.

Later, Cilla goes back to Fizz's and blurts out on the intercom that she has cancer. In Fizz's flat,

her daughter has trouble believing it. Cilla shows her where the melanoma was removed (herchest), saying that was why she wouldn't let Les near her.

“No wonder he thought I was having a flaming affair," she says, "I wish I was."

"Oh Mam!" says Fizz.

Danny's Depression

Liam is trying to get hold of Danny as there is a business meeting that day. He tries to get Sean to tell him what's up but Sean has no idea where he is and he isn't about to tell Liam what's really going on in that family.

Meanwhile, Danny is standing on a viaduct, at what looks like a Norman castle, overlooking some lush green hills.

It's dark now and Danny gets a call from Warren. He tells him that Port Vale has rejected him. Danny, trying to keep it together, tells him not to feel too down, and tells his son he loves him. Danny, who is sitting on the edge of the viaduct, gets up and walks back to his car.

Danny comes back to the office where he is confronted by Liam. He finally tells him that Frankie has left him and that he'll be taking some time off. Liam says he can handle the shop while he's gone.

Tracy's Game

Tracy is still lying on the sofa pretending to be sick. She tells Charlie to go to the Rovers and get his own dinner as all the food in the house is past its sell-by date and she's not hungry. He finds a note on the doormat from Claire asking if Tracy would like to go for a drink that evening. Tracy says she'd rather boil her own head. As soon as Charlie's gone to the Rovers', Tracy gets up and pulls the expired food out of the garbage.

In the Rovers, Claire is worrying about Tracy, and wondering if she got her note, or if Charlie found it first. Ashley tells her she's being paranoid and would rather not be joined by Tracy and Charlie.

Charlie comes into the Rovers and tells Claire that Tracy is still under the weather and didn't feel up to going out.

"Clearly you did though," says Claire.

Charlie says that Tracy wanted him out from under her feet.

"She said thanks for the note," he adds, confirming Claire's suspicion that Charlie got the note first.

"She could be dead for all we know!" declares Claire.0Later, Tracy is by her front door, waiting to see Ashley and Claire coming out. When she does, she rushes outside and hurriedly scrapes an expired meal into the garbage bin. Claire calls out to her and Tracy pretends to be surprised to see her. Claire asks if she got the note, but Tracy says “what note”, and scuttles back inside.

"See!" says Claire to Ashley.

In Other News

Gail is going to buy David a non-functioning car for him to work on so he can learn about responsibility and engines and stuff. Knowing David, you can imagine how this will all work out.

When David gets the car running, Gail will then give him a bottle of scotch to teach him about drunk driving.

Jason is making headway in his courtship of Sarah.

Norris is still blaming the Battersbys for the graffiti, because he's a prejudiced arse.

So how long are Jamie and Frankie going to remain closeted away in the flat? And for what purpose?

Didn't Danny toss his mobile phone in the canal the other day after he nearly killed Jamie? I can't imagine that in his state he's rushed out to the shop to buy a new one. Even if he had a spare one, it wouldn't have the same number as his old mobile, would it?

I don't understand why Tracy retrieved the out of date food from the garbage just to bin it later. What's her game? (I sure hope she lets Amy out of the dishwasher soon, and I suppose Beth must be in still, since there was no one home at the Platts to look after her).

I too felt bad for Cilla and was relieved she did not have to spend the night on the cobbles when Fiz finally believed her. Great understated scenes from Hamilton-bound Wendi Peters!

The office talk with Danny and Liam was excellent I thought, they seemed to connect on a few levels. More please, and more Sean Vs. Frankie too, he has her pegged.

Not the Queen song running through my head on the viaduct but "Milk It" by Nirvana. (partial lyric -- Look on the bright side is suicide) and of course the other great tune by the same band "I hate myself and I want to die". (self explanatory) Powerful scene, without even knowing it mumbling young Warren probably saved his old fella's life.

PS. Good catch on the mobile phone toss by Danny, WC fan, seems the writers let another small detail slip through. I think Tracy wanted the food only so she could scrape it back into the bin in front of Clurr and Ash. They are duly spooked.

Excellent update! Again, where the heck is Amy? I just love Liam! I actually felt sorry for Cilla but don't understand why she didn't tell Les the truth. Concerning mobile phones and water - I put my son's phone through the wash (by mistake of course) we dried it off and 2 years later my husband still uses it.

I have an 18 year old living in my house who is a huge Queen fan to the point that she has an Eddie Murphy 'action figure' that plays sound bites (so loving Queen doesn't necessarily date you!). I'm on the down side of half a century, but my kids keep me tuned in to the new music. I agree Eddie could probably kick Good Charlotte's butt, but not Nirvana's.

That's a lovely poem, Michigander fan.

I think we saw a softer, kinder side of Liam last night, I'm really beginning to like him, and Danny could sure use a friend or two right now.

It's actually William Blake, and it's an excerpt of a poem called the Auguries of Innocence.

I actually screwed it up...it's even prettier:

It is right it should be so:Man was made for joy and woe;And when this we rightly knowThrough the world we safely go.Joy and woe are woven fine,A clothing for the soul divine.Under every grief and pineRuns a joy with silken twine.

Can Eddie even sing - I don't remember him every singing on SNL. My favorite skit of his was 'Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood', a ghetto version of 'Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood', where he answered the door by yelling 'What you want?'

A luvly wee 'ome where Canadian fans of Coronation Street can come ter sit hammer and tack wiv a cuppa and rant and rave about the gahn ons on Corrie Street.
A word to any British fans, we are about 6 months behind on the episodes, so please don't tell us any juicey gossip like Ken Barlow and Vera Duckworth are having an affair.

A luvly wee 'ome where Canadian fans of Coronation Street can come ter sit hammer and tack wiv a cuppa and rant and rave about the gahn ons on Corrie Street.
A word to any British fans, we are about 6 months behind on the episodes, so please don't tell us any juicey gossip like Ken Barlow and Vera Duckworth are having an affair.